Practical application of fuel cells as environmentally-friendly electrical power sources is anticipated because they can achieve higher energy efficiencies than conventional power generating technologies. Various efforts have already been made towards practical application, and fuel cells are being developed using polymers and metal oxides as electrolyte materials. In particular, because polymer electrolyte fuel cells operate at low temperatures around 80° C., they should be applicable to automobiles and household power-generating units. A polymer electrolyte fuel cell is generally configured with a catalyst layer functioning as an electrode, a gas dispersion layer, a separator and the like arranged in layers on both sides of a proton-conductive polymer electrolyte film.
A polymer electrolyte fuel cell has the feature of allowing electricity generation even under low-temperature conditions such as those described above. Because scarce and expensive platinum (Pt) is used as the electrode catalyst, however, they have not become truly widespread for reasons of high-cost. The amount of Pt used needs to be reduced in order to reduce the cost of the fuel cell. Patent Literature 1 below describes a fuel cell using no Pt, and describes using an anion-exchange membrane as the electrolyte layer, and using hydrazine (N2H4) and other compounds containing hydrogen and nitrogen atoms as fuels.
Technologies have already been developed for fuel cells using anion-exchange membranes for the electrolyte layer, and for example Patent Literatures 2 to 5 describe ion-exchange membranes and fuel cells using these.